Oil and power companies could face lawsuits from victims of violent floods or heatwaves where global climate change has intensified the levels of damage. At least, that's what the Oxford University physicist Myles Allen told the Guardian:"We are starting to get to the point that when an adverse weather event occurs we can quantify how much more likely it was made by human activity. And people adversely affected by climate change today are in a position to document and quantify their losses. This is going to be hugely important."Holding people accountable for their contributions to climate change sounds good, but we've all been at least somewhat complicit in contributing to it-the companies were just enablers. Still, lawyers are suggesting that normal rules of causation need not apply if a lawsuit might help prevent future injury.And, according to Owen Lomas, an environmental lawyer, situations where companies "funded disinformation to cast doubt on the link between man-made emissions and global warming" are the most likely to result in litigation.(Photo taken by Flickr user Senor Codo.)
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